Three goals within a remarkable opening 11 minutes stretched Celtic’s domestic unbeaten run to 44 games and few have been as entertaining.

Dedryck Boyata headed home the first, followed by Stuart Armstrong and Leigh Griffiths strikes which looked to have blown the Dons away but a brilliant 12th minute reply from Jonny Hayes proved a temporary show of defiance.

The Champions remained on course to break the 103 points total achieved by Martin O’Neill’s side of 2002 and this first half supershow also provided an ominous dress rehearsal for the Scottish Cup Final between these two teams on May 27.

Boyata headed home the opener after only three minutes from a Leigh Griffiths corner and the damage got a whole lot worse five minutes later.

Griffiths was again the provider as he nutmegged Mark Reynolds before his cross was met by Callum McGregor who’s strike was deflected into the path of Armstrong who rattled in number two from eight yards out.

A third arrived in the 11th minute and this time Griffiths was the scorer as he struck a 25-yarder which swerved on it’s way to Dons keeper Joe Lewis who could only palm the ball into the net.

The home fans may have been stunned but Hayes offered some hope of staging a fightback with a brilliant response sixty seconds later with a strike which dipped over the head of Craig Gordon.

It ignited the Dons who almost reduced the deficit further when Gordon was required to pull off an acrobatic stop from Niall McGinn’s close-range volley on the half hour mark.

Aberdeen had a penalty claimed turned away by referee Steven McLean after Gordon crashed into Graeme Shinnie as the pair raced for a ball inside the area but the whistler opted to award a by-kick despite howls of protests from the home side but it appeared the correct call.

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Aberdeen continued to threaten a fightback which saw them dominate the ball for long spells and Kenny McLean should have offered fresh hope with a shot in the 57th minute which he slashed over the top when he should have hit the target.

McGinn was also wasteful with ten minutes remaning when he couldn’t keep his foley down from the middle of the goals as again Celtic were exposed at the back.

It may have been Aberdeen's half in terms of possession but the damage was done to the Dons in those astonishing first 11 minutes as Celtic's cruise control was then well and truly activated.